Handsley Elizabeth, Warburton Wayne
School of Law, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2021 May 26;29(1):68-92. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2021.1904446. eCollection 2022.
This article analyses the practical operation of Australia's National Classification System (NCS) for films and games, to evaluate its alignment with the findings of psychological research. Twenty-nine decisions of the Classification Review Board are examined to determine the factors applied in assessing the impact of violent content and drawing the line between the different classification categories. The language used in referring to violent content is analysed to determine the concepts that influence the Board's view about the correct classification. These concepts are then tested against the research evidence on the depictions of violence that create the greatest risk of adverse outcomes for viewers and players. Not all of the concepts used in classification have a basis in the research evidence, and some are directly at odds with that evidence. The article concludes by recommending changes to the rules that could lead to better alignment between classification decisions and the research evidence.
本文分析了澳大利亚电影和游戏分级系统（NCS）的实际运作情况，以评估其与心理学研究结果的契合度。研究审查了分级审查委员会的29项决定，以确定在评估暴力内容影响及划分不同分级类别界限时所应用的因素。分析了提及暴力内容时所使用的语言，以确定影响委员会对正确分级看法的概念。然后，对照关于暴力描绘对观众和玩家造成最大不良后果风险的研究证据，对这些概念进行检验。并非分级中使用的所有概念都有研究证据作为依据，有些甚至与该证据直接相悖。文章最后建议修改规则，以使分级决定与研究证据更好地契合。
